


The Message

by penguinspy42



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2013-04-20
Packaged: 2017-12-09 00:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penguinspy42/pseuds/penguinspy42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just as he was about to send the TARDIS into the vortex, he noticed a small blue blinking light on the console. He was reasonably sure that hadn't been doing that before, but then, he was still getting used to the new console. He flicked it experimentally and a pair of painfully familiar voices filled the room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Message

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during and after The Bells of St. John.

Keeping busy was a necessity for the Doctor in the same way that Humans needed air and Hath needed nutrient-infused liquid. So while he guarded Clara that first day they met, or rather, the third time he met some form of her but the first time this form met him, he tried to be inventive about staying occupied. He gardened, rummaged about in the garage and assembled a new toy, all while taking Clara's calls. It was the messages that gave him the idea for his next task. After receiving her initial call, the Doctor started to wonder who else had the number for the call box on his TARDIS considering that phone wasn't even supposed to have one. Well, he knew at least one person who could give it a number if she put her mind to it and he had a feeling that the woman in the shop wasn't such a mystery after all. Or at least her identity wasn't a mystery. He'd deal with that later, though. First he needed to make sure any future calls were screened, just as he did with the TARDIS's main line. Even though the exterior phone was really simply decoration, it only took a couple wires to hook it into the main line. Just as he sat down, the window on the house above opened and Clara appeared and their inaugural adventure began in ernest.

\---

" _Oh, I like her,_ " the Doctor thought as he raced around the TARDIS console, readying his beloved ship for the quick hop to meet Clara at at the promised hour of seven the next day. Each version of this impossible woman he met was unique yet similar. If there was anything the Doctor loved more than keeping busy, it was a good mystery and it seemed that traveling with Clara would provide both.

Just as he was about to send the TARDIS into the vortex, he noticed a small blue blinking light on the console. He was reasonably sure that hadn't been doing that before, but then, he was still getting used to the new console. He flicked it experimentally and a pair of painfully familiar voices filled the room.

"Hello? Hello? I think the line went dead," a male voice remarked.

"Maybe they're recording us, to review later," replied a very Scottish female voice.

Immediately, the Doctor plugged his ears but the message continued as if being fed directly into his brain rather than just broadcast to the open room.

"It's 1940, they can't--"

"Hello, this is Rory and Amy Williams. We received a telegram with instructions to call this number for an interview to begin the adoption process."

Frantically, the Doctor hit buttons and flipped switches on the console, trying everything to get the recording to stop. But all he succeeded in doing was finding a Jammie Dodger dispenser, a lovely discovery overall but not much help at the moment. Defeated, he backed up to sink into the jump seat, remembering it wasn't there only when he fell to the ground. He sat there, unable to move, and let the voices wash over him.

"I'm a writer and I do fairly well all things considered. You've probably read about Rory in the papers. He's the nurse that has saved so many people deemed unsavable. The only one he can't fix is--is me. I can't have children, and we want kids so badly. Always have. But we just..." Her voice trailed off and the words reached into the Doctor's chest, clutching at his hearts with the vice of guilt.

"But we've had a very full life," said Rory, taking over. "Aside from not having a child, there's not one thing we would change. All we want is to add a child to our story. We want to share our love of travel and Amy's imagination and my empathy. We want to share our joy for life and our belief that anything is possible even if it doesn't immediately seem so. We want our happy family of two to become an even happier family of three. Or more."

"Don't think we're trying to say we're perfect. We're not without our flaws," Amy cut in. "But as long as we have each other, we can get through anything. We'll do anything for each other and our child. We'll love them no matter who they are. So please, consider us. Thank you."

"Thank you," Rory added before the line fell silent.

The blue light stopped blinking as soon as the message was played out, but the Doctor continued to stare at it. He wondered if he had kept the instruction manual, if it would update itself every time the TARDIS changed. It certainly would help him to avoid uncomfortable situations like that. But did he really want to avoid it? He'd read the words Amy wrote, but hearing their voices--they sounded so content with the life they'd made for themselves. Only one piece was missing and he was sure that would fall into place. Maybe he could come up with a way to contact the agency, give a glowing reference. It was the least he could do after--

 _River_.

The Doctor jumped to his feet, changed the coordinates on the console, and sent the TARDIS into the vortex. Clara and seven could wait. This, what she did, was reckless. Even more so than usual. What if he hadn't answered the phone for Clara? Or what if he had answered when it was Amy and Rory? She should know better than to muck about with time and take risks like that after all she'd been through. After all they'd been through.

He didn't even pause to appreciate the implications of the garden he stepped into, instead marching straight to the door and pressing his thumb to the fingerprint lock. The door obediently clicked open for him and he did allow himself a brief sigh of relief at that. Out of his handful of visits to her post-prison home, he hadn't yet had River program the lock with his thumbprint. So he figured every time it worked, he still had at least one visit left.

The house was darkened as he entered, with only a dim glow coming from the arch leading to the front room. He moved toward it and found River in a blue silk robe, curled up on the sofa with a book under the light of an antique Earth reading lamp. The warm light made her hair seem more golden than usual, and the sight almost made him forget why he was there.

"Hello sweetie," she purred and his heart leapt into his throat.

Swallowing hard, the Doctor willed himself to push the fog of curls and silk and that low throaty voice from his head and said, "River, we need to talk."

"Oh, do we now? Found someone new, have you?" she asked, putting her book down on the table.

"Yes. No! Not like that," he flustered under her smirk. "River, you can't just give the TARDIS phone number out to random girls in shops!"

"I didn't," she replied simply, that same maddening smirk still on her lips.

"Of course it was you. It had to be you. I--"

"What I meant was, I didn't give it to some random girl. I gave it to Clara."

Whatever response he was expecting, it hadn't been that. Of course, he shouldn't be surprised that River knew Clara. Even at this late stage in the game, she still had secrets to keep. It was with a heavy heart that the day would come all too soon where the only secret remaining between them was the one he'd kept from her for so long.

"What if I hadn't answered, River?" He paced around the room, glaring at the antiquities she'd collected on her travels as if they were responsible for robbing him of his remaining time with her. "Or how about Amy and Rory? I assume you sent them the telegram, hmm? What if you've ruined their chances to adopt?"

"For being so late in our relationship, you are certainly acting like we've only just met." Her voice was stern and her jovial smirk hardened into a more serious expression. "Of course I had another telegram delivered to my parents with the correct number, apologizing for the 'mistake' in the first one. I also arranged for several strong references to be sent to the agency. They will live happy and complete lives."

The Doctor sank into a chair and River continued, "As for Clara, you needed to find her again, but you couldn't see what was staring you in the face. I gave you the push you needed. And the phone? I knew you'd answer the first time. You wouldn't be able to resist. But the second call? Well, you never were one to answer your phone, were you?"

The Doctor sighed and shook his head. Sometimes, he wondered how she could know him as well or better than he knew himself. It was maddening and exciting all in one. He lifted his face to look at her, fully aware his eyes carried more heaviness and sorrow than he should be revealing but he couldn't be bothered to hide it.

River rose from the sofa and moved over to him, kneeling by the chair and taking his hand in hers. "I know it must be hard. You find people you care about, who care about you, and then in just a fraction of a moment you find yourself saying goodbye. One day you'll do so with me."

The surprise showed on his face and she only smiled back. "I've always known, from my studies in university. I know our time is finite. True, I don't know exactly when or how it ends, but I know it does and I suspect you do as well." She squeezed his hand comfortingly and continued, "But the important thing, Doctor, is to know when to fight for your friends, and when it's time to let them go."

"I'm tired of letting go," he mumbled, fully aware he sounded like a petulant child complaining about some mundane task. "Why can't I have just one constant?"

"You really can't think of one constant?" River asked and he shook his head miserably. She laughed lightly and gestured toward the back of the house. "What about her? The TARDIS? She's always been there for you and always will."

Giving him only a moment to ponder that, she pressed on, "You have another constant too. Maybe not a true constant, but you will always have people who love you and need you. You'll need them as well. True, it won't always be the same person, but they will come to you, or you to them, always. As long as you don't lock yourself up in a prison of your own self-loathing."

He knew her words were true even though he hated to admit it. It was just usually so much easier to seclude himself from the universe than to face the seemingly never-ending cycle of loving and losing friends. Reluctantly, he nodded his agreement.

River lifted his hand and pressed her lips to the back. "There now, feel better?"

"A bit," he conceded.

"Well then," she said as she rose to her feet. "I believe you have a date."

"It's not a date," he muttered grumpily as he stood. "It's just--"

"I know, sweetie. It's just a figure of speech." She patted his cheek fondly then paused for a moment as her smile faded. "You'll see me again soon, and I'm sorry."

Frowning, the Doctor asked, "What are you sorry for this time?"

"You'll find out," she said, regaining some of her vibrancy. "Go on now, you'll be late."

"Time machine," he pointed out, jerking his head toward the back door.

"You're anxious to go, I can tell," River remarked, settling herself back on the sofa with her book. "Go on, then."

"River, I--" He hesitated, fumbling over impossible words in his head before throwing a nervous glance to the back door. "I--I'll see you later."

Giving him an understanding smile, River replied, "I--I'll see you later too, my love."

As he returned to the TARDIS, the Doctor hoped that River's familiarity with Clara came from many trips together, and not just research. He never could tell with her what knowledge she gained from experience and what was derived from books. But for now with the promise of a new adventure awaiting him, at least some time remaining with River, and the constant companionship of the TARDIS, he found within himself the ability to keep moving forward.


End file.
